A school reunion looks set to bring together more than 1,000 people who attended John Cleveland College between 1980 and 1985.

Mike Broadhurst from Hinckley is the man behind the event after he created a Facebook group to reunite old friends and received an astonishing response.

Mike, 46, said: “I set up a Facebook group about two years ago and added a handful of school friends who I hadn’t seen for a while. I just thought it would be good to get in touch with old friends.

“To begin with it was a slow crawl with about five or six new members a month. Nothing really happened, it was a quiet group.”

However, over the past month Mike’s JCC reunion Facebook page has rapidly grown in popularity.

“More and more people were joining the group and I began to think word must be getting out. I decided when it got to 300 members I would organise a reunion.

“I started to look at venues but then membership was increasing so quickly. It went from 10 to 20 new people a day, to 50 people a day, and then suddenly it was reaching 100 new members every day.”

Now with over 1,200 people in the group - and counting - Mike has organised a reunion for later in the year at The Bounty in Hinckley.

“I’ve organised the event to give people the chance to catch up with old friends and reminisce about old times. If the night is a success we will definitely do it again next year.”

The reunion will be open to anyone who was a student at JCC between 1980 and 1985. Mike said: “The resident DJ is going to be playing music from that era and anyone who wants to come in ‘80s-themed fancy dress is more than welcome to do so.”

As well as bringing old pals back together Mike is also hoping to raise money for charity in memory of those who can’t be at the reunion. He said: “We will have collection buckets on the night for Cancer Research UK, the Samaritans and for Leicestershire Air Ambulance because quite a few old friends have passed away through illness, some have sadly taken their own lives and others have died in road traffic accidents.”

The JCC 1980-1985 reunion will take place on Saturday November 22 from 7pm. It will be free to attend but people must order tickets to gain entry to The Bounty.

Mike said: “The tickets went online and within 24 hours 400 had already sold. I am just absolutely gobsmacked at the response. If people want to come they should get their tickets as soon as possible. I’m really looking forward to seeing some old familiar faces.”

Anyone who wants to attend the event can find out more information by visiting the John Cleveland College Reunion - 80 to 85 Facebook page.